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Key Takeaways Businesses need control over their online spaces. Public or unmoderated online communities carry legal, ethical and reputational risks.
We created our own internal platform that allows us to enjoy the benefits of online communities while avoiding the risks.
Your company culture should extend to your online communities. This helps guide behavior and ensures people use the space ethically and effectively.
Owning your brand’s online spaces creates a positive feedback loop that strengthens both the business and the community.
The internet can be a wonderful tool, but it can also be a scary place. That’s at least as true for business owners as it is for individual users. If you’ve ever worried about the potential reaction to something you’ve liked or posted online, imagine having the same concerns about each of the thousands of individual dealers in your company’s network.
I’ve personally addressed this challenge at Roof Maxx, the virtual home improvement company I founded that now has dealers in all 50 states. We don’t try to control everything our dealers say or do online in their personal time, but we also understand the importance of taking responsibility for any online activities that directly involve our brand.
Our solution has been to create our own internal platform for lead and territory management, while using a private social media group to facilitate communication between dealers.
Here’s why our approach has allowed us to reap the benefits of online communication while avoiding some of its biggest pitfalls.
Why businesses need control over their online spaces
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